Two Marion County high school students have been named to the first group of winners in the 55th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Kirk Gordon a senior at Knoxville High School planning to pursue a degree in Marine Biology, is the recipient of the National Merit 3M Scholarship which is awarded annually to sons and daughters of 3Mers at all branch, plant, and subsidiary locations. Todd Wegter, a senior at Pella Community High School who plans to attend college for Computer Engineering, will receive a National Merit New York Life Family Scholarship which are awarded to the children of company employees and agents.

More than 1.5 million juniors in over 22,000 high schools across the county entered the 2010 scholarship competition when they took the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves as the initial step in the screening process. The winners are selected from students who advance to the finalist level of the competition and meet the criteria of each sponsor’s scholarship.

The program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The majority of awards are renewable for up to four years of college and cab be used at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.